After She Left
by elle140
Summary: A brutal murder penetrates the BAU's close-knit family and the walls of their lives are quickly torn down.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Exams are finally over and holiday break has begun…queue time to write!

A few weeks ago I watched The Lovely Bones and Secret in their Eyes, two phenomenal films. This one is inspired by both.

! - This story will be dark. Very dark. Watch the two movies and you'll see.

 _Warning: Character Death_

Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

 _Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment when we really choose to go. At best you might feel a whisper, or the wave of a whisper, undulating down._

 _-Susie Salmon_

1

Derek awoke to the startling scream of his cell, which was resting on the nightstand next to his bed. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and read the screen: Hotch. He reached for the phone and sat up.

"Hotch?"

"I know it's early, but Harrisonburg P.D. called, they found another body."

Harrisonburg, Virginia. Police noticed a trend, every two years a working girl was found raped and strangled in a relatively public area. Recently, the victims went from high-risk victims to low-risk women. Businesswomen, lawyers, and doctors were his latest targets.

Hotch continued. "I'd like you and Dave to check it out. The rest of us will wrap up the Atlanta case and we'll fly out if needed."

Derek was already out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans with one hand while he held the phone up to his ear. "You'll call Dave?"

"Yes. He's already aware. He's expecting you at six."

Derek slid the phone into his pocket as he picked out a black t-shirt. He grabbed his go-bag from the floor in the closet, quickly grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen and made his way to the garage.

Then, sitting in his car while he waited for it to warm up, he texted her.

' _Going to Harrisonburg. See you later.'_

To Emily. It had been no secret that the two had grown _much_ closer over the last few months. They'd passed the platonic friendship and were going full speed towards a romantic one. Sometimes it scared Derek, to be getting so damn close to her. But he could not hold it back any longer, and neither could she.

Yesterday, they had the day off. It was a crisp Saturday, free of serial killers, death and heartache. A break from the horrid crimes they dealt with on a daily basis. He'd taken Emily to one of his projects, a small little cabin on the outskirts of the city. He'd been renovating it for close to ten months now and she had expressed some interest in seeing it, so, he took her.

 _"_ _You did all this?" She asked, her mouth gaping open._

 _He smiled. "Yeah. You wanna see the kitchen?"_

 _Her eyes lit up, her mouth closing to form a small smile. "Lead the way."_

 _He guided her around the staircase and into a subtle-blue painted room, the walls lined with wooden cabinets and grey granite tops._

 _"_ _So, this is where you spend your free time?" She asked as she ran her hand over the counter tops, while she gazed at the freshly sanded wood._

 _Derek leaned back against the doorframe and shrugged. "I guess. It clears my mind."_

 _"_ _How so?"_

 _"_ _It's about the furthest I can get from killers and death, don't you think?" She raised her eyebrows at him, prompting him to continue. "I come here after a case and get to tear down walls, smash out old cabinets and then get to decorate the place however I want. When I'm done, I sell it."_

 _"_ _Sounds…satisfying." Emily said with a ghost of a smile._

 _"_ _You want to…help me on my next project?" He asked tentatively. "I already have another property."_

 _"_ _You think I would be good at this?" She said, her hand motioned to the kitchen._

 _"_ _You kick down doors everyday." He said with a grin. "Besides, you can come to keep me company."_

 _"_ _I think that's more of your job." She took a step towards him._

 _"_ _That is…?"_

 _"_ _Kicking down doors."_

 _He followed her lead and stepped towards her. "It's easier with two legs kicking."_

 _Before either of them could stop it, their lips engulfed into a passionate dance._

"Why haven't we been called in before? They have eleven bodies now." Derek said.

Dave kept his eyes on the road. "There's only one every two years. That's a span of twenty-two years. Detectives found the first body in 1989, forensic evidence was new. They didn't connect the bodies until the 90's."

"The first eight victims were working girls. Nobody was looking for them." Derek said. "He's only began taking low-risk women in the last six years."

"What do you think made him change?"

Derek sighed. "Maybe he got bored? Wanted them to put up a fight? The working-girls all had a variety of drugs in their systems. Wouldn't give him much of a fight."

"Does the latest one had defensive wounds?"

"I don't know. They haven't sent crime scene photos yet." Derek closed the file. "Hotch said their forensics team hasn't processed the evidence yet."

"What about the body?"

"Still at the dump site. Hotch told 'em we would want to see it for ourselves."

"Smart man."

Derek turned his attention to the scenery passing them outside his window. Trees and shrubs flew past, becoming green flashes. The sun was shining bright, a beautiful fall day.

Two and a half hours later, Dave pulled up to the scene. Yellow tape and police cars protected the essential piece of the puzzle.

"You guys must be the FBI."

Derek stuck out his hand to the older man. "Derek Morgan and David Rossi."

"Your unit chief told us to leave the body," he shifted his gaze to slightly behind him. "she's right over there."

Dave nodded and he walked off to take a look. From behind him, he could hear Derek asking about the time of death and if they had any suspects. Dave walked into the parking garage, passing a few officers on his way in.

The garage was dimly lit and smelled of death. From what they had been told, this was just his dumpsite. There was a second location, which they had not found yet, where he raped and beat them.

Approaching the body, Dave felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him. Squatting down, he folded the tarp over to reveal her face.

His stomach dropped and he vomited.

…

"Do you have any ideas as to how long he keeps them?" Derek asked.

"Most of the women were reported missing anywhere from six to ten hours before their bodies were found. He's fast."

"He doesn't get off on the prolonged suffering…" Derek observed.

"There's evidence of brutal assault on every victim. Our M.E. speculates it's repeatedly."

"He gets off on the sexual torture." Derek said. "Are all the dumpsites this public?"

The deputy nodded. "He likes parking garages. Or garbage bins behind restaurants. Shelly Thompson, the 2005 vic, she was found in the park."

Before Derek could ask another question, Dave was walking out of the garage.

"It looks like our guy is a sexual sadist, Rossi. He rapes—"

Derek then looked up and saw Dave's wide eyes. "Hey, man, what's wrong?"

Dave looked down, a small, choked sob escaped his mouth.

"Rossi?" Derek's heart raced and panic rose.

"Derek…it's…" Rossi took another breath. "it's Emily."

Derek took a step back, shaking his head. "No." He refused to believe it.

"It's Emily, Derek." Dave reached out to touch Morgan's arm, but the younger agent took another step back.

Derek's body felt numb, like he was floating. He tore his arm away from Rossi and began his sprint into the garage. Within seconds he was standing next to the body. He knelt down and peeled the tarp away, praying with everything in him that Rossi had been mistaken.

It was not a mistake.

When he revealed her face, he felt the most unimaginable pain in his chest. His heart was exploding. He sobbed. "No!"

Without thinking, Derek pulled her lifeless body onto his lap, cradling her head in his hands. "No! No!"

"Derek, Derek!" Rossi called from behind him, logically thinking that he was contaminating the evidence, but realizing that Derek couldn't control himself in this moment. He knew the nature of their relationship. He wasn't sure if the rest of the team knew, but that didn't matter now.

Derek continued to wrap his arms around Emily's body, moving her so her head was resting in the crook of his neck. Sobs and screams continuously poured from his body. He felt the blue rubber separating his skin from hers and an overwhelming need to touch her washed over him.

Rossi watched as Derek ripped of the blue gloves and when they were finally off, he ran his fingers through her dark, damp hair and over her arm, sobbing into her dark locks. His sobs were the only thing audible in the garage. Dave's head hung low, as well as the other officers and what was left of the forensics team. Nobody knew what to do in that moment, other than remain quiet as the grief of Derek Morgan wailed through the garage.

"My sweet girl," He cried, "My sweet, sweet girl."

Dave could not think. Hell, he could not breathe. Because Emily Prentiss was no longer with them.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all so much for the reviews! I was pleasantly surprised with the feedback I got after the first chapter went up…which is why I'm deciding to continue :) I hope you'll stick with me through this one. It'll be a doozy.

Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but this story is set in late season 5/early season 6.

I'm hoping to post on a weekly basis, possibly more or less depending on my schedule. I go back to school in a little under a month so things might slow down when I'm in class again. But, we shall see!

! - This story will be dark. Very dark. Watch the two movies and you'll see.

 _Warning: Character Death_

Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

 _Disbelief becomes my close companion, and anger follows in its wake._

 _-Maya Angelou_

2

 _"_ _Sweet girl?" Emily mocked. "Seriously?"_

 _Derek laughed, the bed shaking slightly at his deep belly laugh. "What? You don't like it?"_

 _"_ _It's a little… I don't know."_

 _"_ _A little what? Accurate?" He teased._

 _Emily rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed next to him. " I guess I don't really think of the word 'sweet' when I think of myself."_

 _Derek sat up, scooted next to her and brushed his hand against her cheek. "I do."_

 _She smiled shyly and leaned into him. "I guess it's alright, then."_

 _Derek smiled in victory._

 _"_ _Just don't let the others hear it. We'd never hear the end of it."_

 _…_

About an hour and a half after the discovery, Derek sat on the curb outside the garage, his eyes staring blankly ahead of him. He heard the hustle around him at the newfound truth: an FBI agent was their unsub's latest victim. Only, she was not just an FBI agent to him. She was everything.

His conscious mind hardly registered Rossi's form standing just to the side of him. The older man sat down next to him, allowing a few silent moments to pass before he spoke. "Derek… "

Derek felt a warm hand on his shoulder and the last few tears rolled down his cheeks and he let his head fall.

"Hotch and the team… " Rossi said, "They'll be here soon."

A middle-aged officer slowly walked towards them, not having had the training or experience to deal with a situation like this properly. "Agents… I'm so sorry for your loss."

Rossi nodded, effectively answering for the both of them while Derek's eyes produced more salty tears, tears he did not know still existed.

"I understand you knew the victim." He said as he pulled out a pad yellow paper and a pen. "If it's alright, I'd like to ask you a few questions so we can find this bastard."

Rossi looked at Morgan before answering. Although the darker agent still seemed extremely out of it, he decided they could try. "Of course."

"When was the last time you saw Agent Prentiss?"

"Friday afternoon. We left work around three. We had the weekend off—"

Then, Derek sat up. "I was with her last night. We—we grabbed dinner at some pizza place… " He trailed off, his brain recalling the event. "I dropped her off at her apartment around eight."

"And this was all last night?" The officer asked.

Derek nodded. "She was going to see her mother—" Derek stopped and looked at Rossi. "Her mother. How do I tell her that she's—" Sobs began to wrack through his body again, his hands running over his scalp in sadness and anger, which one specifically he was unsure.

"I'll take care of that." Rossi responded. "Did you talk to her anytime after you dropped her off?"

Derek shook his head. "I went to bed… "

He was asleep while Emily was going through actual hell. He knew exactly what had happened to all the women this guy got his hands on. Knowing what she went through in her final hours made him nauseous.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Derek said suddenly and quickly ran towards a bush, expelling the contents of his stomach.

"We'll be in touch soon," The officer said as he stuffed the pen and paper back into his pocket. "Again, I'm so sorry for your loss."

Rossi simply nodded, his emotions not allowing him to speak. The officer quickly walked back to join his partner, the two of them walking back into that god forsaken garage. Tears slowly fell down his cheeks, the events of the past two hours began to catch up to him. The woman he viewed as a daughter, Emily Prentiss, was taken from this Earth. Her beautiful heart ceased to beat.

Rossi saw blonde hair sailing through the air before he even saw the black SUV pull up. Her blue eyes were red and fresh tear trails stained her cheeks.

"Rossi, tell me it's not her. It's not Emily, right?"

Dave simply stood in front of her while she gripped his shoulders with a vigor he did not know she possessed. Her eyes rapidly searched his face for any indication that her best friend was not lying lifeless in a body bag behind them. "Dave!"

He blinked. "JJ… It's… "

"No. No, it can't be. I—I just talked to her yesterday!"

"Jayje," Derek said as he emerged from behind the bush, "It's her."

"No… " She sobbed and Derek was able to catch her before she hit the ground. He held onto her tight, for her comfort or for his own, he did not know. He clung to her small frame, burying his face into her blonde hair and began to sob with her. Tears streamed from his eyes viciously while she mumbled utter shock and pain into his shoulder.

Rossi tore his eyes away when he couldn't take it anymore, wiping at his own moist eyes. From the SUV, he watched as Hotch, Reid and Garcia piled out, each as somber as the next. Garcia went straight to JJ and Derek, both engulfing her into tearful hugs. Reid was unnervingly silent, a silence that was so unlike the boy genius. His head hung low and he stood awkwardly to the side.

"Rossi, you're sure?" Hotch said, his eyes wide and the worry and pain unmistakable from his usually stoic features.

Rossi nodded sadly. "It's her, Aaron."

Rossi watched with some discomfort as Aaron's eyes became moist with salty tears and his mask faltered. Never had he seen the man who had proved that his ability to hide emotions went above anyone else, show such pain and grief.

Only ten minutes after the team's arrival, they watched in horror as the black bag, the one they'd all become so accustomed to, being wheeled out of the garage. Garcia broke down into sobs again. Derek looked lost. The look on his face was one Aaron had never seen before, but it scared him. He'd watched the two profilers get closer and the look, he realized, was one he'd acquired only a couple short years ago when Haley died. It hit him like a ton of bricks and his stomach churned. Derek Morgan had, unknowingly, gone to the crime scene where Emily was. He felt like a failure, like he should have known and stopped it from happening. But, it was too late. He'd sent Derek to the scene, a decision that would change the younger agent for life.

"Agent Hotchner," A voice called from about ten feet away. An older man with greying roots approached them. "I understand the latest victim was one of yours."

Aaron cleared his throat. "Uh, yes. She was."

"If your team is up to it, I'd like to invite you in. We need all the help we can get."

Aaron looked back at the faces of his team. Although this was something they never expected to go through, it happened and they couldn't change it now. What used to be looks of devastation and pain, had morphed into anger and determination. Aaron simply nodded and shook the Sheriff's hand.

"Great. I'll book a few rooms at the hotel closest to the station." He smiled and took a step back. However, his smile fell and his eyes softened. "Agents, we all take this personally. An attack against you all is attack against us. We'll get this son of a bitch."

As the Sheriff walked away, Hotch turned to face his agents. Garcia and JJ still nearly clung to each other. Derek stood off to the side, his gaze staring absently towards the garage. Reid picked at a string on his sleeve and Dave stood next to him.

"We'll take the next few days slow." He announced. "I need to make some calls, and I'd like you all to clear your heads. Go back to Quantico if you need to. But, whoever is up for it, I think we should work this case." He paused, swallowing down his own emotions. "For Prentiss."

As the team began walking back to the SUV's, Derek moved towards Aaron.

"Hotch…"

"I know, Morgan. I've had my suspicions for the past few months." Hotch said before Derek could speak. Derek's head hung low, silent tears cascading down his cheeks. Hotch put a comforting hand on the dark agent's shoulder, blinking away his own tears. "We'll get through this. The next few days are going to be awful, Morgan. If you'd like to take a few days—"

"I was asleep, Hotch." Derek said, a sudden animosity clouding his words, "While some bastard was—"

Hotch closed his eyes, unable to control the images of Emily that tormented his mind.

Derek continued. "I was asleep. And I won't rest again until we get him."

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review…let me know what you liked and didn't like. See you again soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Welcome back! I hope (if you celebrate) that your holidays were amazing - I had such a great time spending it with my family. Anywho...it's Wednesday and that means a new chapter! Enjoy :)_

 _Warning: Character Death_

Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

3

Less than a week after the murder of Emily Prentiss, Derek's alarm was blaring at him, screaming for him to get out of bed. Only five days ago, it was Hotch's call that woke him. The call that lead him to the most gruesome discovery of his life.

Now, however, the day was beginning at six in the morning. The funeral was at eleven.

Rossi had managed to get in touch with the ambassador, a task none of the other agents envied. He'd informed her of her daughter death and despite her grief, she'd managed to plan an extravagant, government funeral for her daughter in less than a week. After the medical examiner had collected evidence of course.

"Only the best for my daughter." She'd said.

Only Derek knew this was _not_ the best for Emily. She wouldn't want all these strange government officials whom she never met to be 'mourning' her alongside the team. She would not want the priest who would stand at the head of her grave, reciting a bible verse her mother picked out. She would not want any of this.

She wanted to be cremated. She told him, and he was failing her. Horribly.

By the time he was showered and dressed in his black tux, it was ten. He had no appetite, and hadn't had one for nearly a week now. He checked his tie in the mirror just before leaving the house, adjusting it over to the left slightly and sighing.

Never in his life did he imagine he'd be going to the funeral of Emily.

They were suppose to grow old together, have a kid or two, and fight evil together. But that was a pipe dream now.

An hour later, he stood in-between Hotch and Penelope, the latter's hand clinging onto his as if her life depended on it. And he thought it did. He listened numbly as Emily's mother spoke.

Empty words, he thought. She hadn't known Emily like he did. She never bothered to get to know her daughter. Work took precedence over family in the Prentiss household. Emily had told him a few little things over the past few months that only fueled the fire he had against the ambassador. If she had truly known her daughter, she would have known this funeral was the exact opposite of what should have been done.

Morgan did not speak at the funeral — opting to keep his relationship with the ambassador's daughter a secret for as long as he possibly could. Because he wanted to savior those months he had with Emily for a lifetime. The team would have a small gathering at Rossi's once they caught the man responsible, and that's when Derek would speak.

Derek listened to Penelope's sobs, JJ's sniffles and Reid's silence as the coffin was lowered into the dark ground. And Derek's eyes were glued to the white casket. He had to admit, the casket her mother chose was beautiful: white with gold accents.

But, then he realized his beautiful, vibrant Emily was contained inside and it made him sick. It made his insides boil with anger and hate. A hatred that extended beyond her killer. He hated the universe. He hated God. He hated that the world was without Emily. He hated that she served innocence and protected the people every damn day and _this_ was how she was repaid.

When the spectacle was over, he walked past a line of people waiting to pay their respects to the ambassador. He nearly laughed out loud at the sight of Erin Strauss hugging Ambassador Prentiss. Unable to utter a single word to her, he walked back to the SUV's and sat in the passenger seat. Fifteen minutes later Hotch appeared and the others filled the second SUV.

"I didn't see you with Emily's mother." He said blatantly.

"Yeah." Derek mumbled.

"Morgan, I know—"

"No, Hotch. Emily would've hated that." He glanced back at the cemetery, his eyes catching the casket one last time. "That was a joke."

"She did her best." Hotch said.

Derek scoffed. "Whatever."

"Are you ready to go back to Harrisonburg?" Hotch asked as he finally pulled away from the curb.

Derek sat up, suddenly much more alert. "Strauss gave us the O.K.?"

"She understands the circumstances." Hotch said. "But any indications that we're too close, she'll pull us."

"Of course we're too close!" Derek said a little louder than intended. "Emily was murdered for christ sake!"

A silence filled the SUV.

"Derek, I know what you're feeing. Trust me, I do." Hotch said, his voice faltering slightly. "But we need to focus, we need to get justice for Emily."

Derek sighed. "You know she wanted kids?"

Hotch laughed sadly. "No, I didn't."

Tears pricked at Derek's eyes, a watery smile spreading across his face. "She got so happy at the idea of it, like a kid in a candy store, ya know?"

Hotch laughed, although a sob followed it.

"Her eyes would light up when we talked about it. We were gunna start trying as soon as…"

"As soon as what?" Hotch questioned.

"I was going to propose." Derek said. "She was the one, Hotch. We knew we would've had to tell everyone and it would've sucked for a while work-wise, but we were gunna make it work. She's my wife." Derek said, risking a teary-eyed glance over at Hotch before his emotions got the better of him. He couldn't hold it back any longer.

He repeated it. "She's my wife."

But he never expected to leave his wife behind in a cemetery.

…

A week after the murder of Emily and two days after her funeral, the team was together again in Harrisonburg alongside its police force.

Hotch had sent Derek, JJ and Reid to the dump site of the woman before Emily, Lacie Norris. Although the evidence was long gone, he wanted Derek no where near the station when the report came back on Emily from the M.E.. He decided that he and Dave would take the first impact.

"Here's the report on your agent." Sheriff Todd handed them two manilla folders. He glanced at the pictures of the entire team that had been spread out on the table, the ones they'd taken at their Christmas party the year before. "Try and remember her like that, when you read the files."

It took Hotch and Dave nearly an hour to read the two pages worth of information.

Repeated rape.

Strangulation.

Defensive wounds.

Bleached.

She'd been soaked in bleach, just like the other victims, which meant they had no forensic evidence from her body. Even if she'd scratched him, which they were positive she had, the DNA was destroyed.

"Fuck!" Hotch yelled as he slammed the chair into the table, unable to control the rage that was built up inside him.

"Aaron —"

"You read what she went through, Dave. Don't tell me to calm down."

Rossi decided to let the younger man cool down before trying to speak again. Instead, he closed the file and put his head into his hands. He felt the same rage and pain as Aaron, but he was better at controlling it.

"The garage where Lacie Norris was found was nothing unusual, just a regular—" JJ started but then stopped as she felt the weight hanging over the room. "What's going on?"

Hotch and Rossi exchanged a glance before Hotch picked up the manilla folder. "It's the M.E.'s report."

Derek felt his stomach twist. He knew what was inside that folder and wasn't sure he was ready to read through it. But, instead of leaving he held his hand out. Emily had lived through it, he could at least read it.

The three profilers who had to read, himself and JJ and Reid, separated and found their own quiet rooms among the chaotic station. Derek found a quiet interrogation room and sat down. He found that his hands were sweating and his heart was racing. The butterflies in his stomach were dropping to the pit and created a sinking feeling that rushed to every part of his body.

He rubbed the palms of his trembling hands onto his pants and took a seat in the hard, metal chair.

And for the next hour, he read through the hell that Emily endured. For an hour his heart broke over and over again and he shed tears he did not think he had left.

She had scratches and bruises all over her arms, which were defensive wounds. He fought back just like he knew she would. She had lacerations on her back, head and knees. But the two details that broke Derek the most came at the end of the report.

Evidence of repeated sexual assault.

Bruising around her neck.

Hemorrhaging in her eyes.

Finger nail marks on her neck.

Nail marks, that the examiner determined to be her own, which were made when she tried to pry her assailant's hands away from her neck. Marks that were made while she struggled for her life.

When he was finally done reading, he stood up and felt the rage coursing through his blood. He tried taking a few deep breaths, but nothing calmed his rage. He pummeled his fist into the wall of the interrogation room and ran his hands over his head. When he decided he had calmed down enough, he grabbed the file and stepped back into the hall. He found a wide-eyed JJ standing off to the side, looking rather out of it.

"Jayje?" He tried.

Slowly, she turned to face him. She revealed her blood-shot eyes and her trembling lip.

Within seconds of meeting her eyes, he found himself trying to hold back his own tears. They quickly found each other's arms, wrapping one another in a bear-like hug, both wetting the shoulder of the other. Then, Reid stepped out of his own room and Derek straightened up to see him.

Instead of walking towards the pair, he stood still for a moment.

"Kid—"

Reid ignored him and walked back through the station and disappeared into the swarm of police officers. Instead of running after him, Derek and JJ silently agreed to give him some space. The boy genius was not the best at handling emotional turmoil such as the one they faced now.

JJ wiped at the wetness on her face, blinking a few times to attempt and pull herself together.

"I can't even imagine what it was like…" JJ said quietly.

Derek closed his eyes and shook his head. He did not want to think about that. "I don't want to think about it." He gently pushed past her and walked back into the room where Hotch and Rossi waited.

Both older men looked at him with pain in their dark eyes. Derek just sighed again, not particularly wanting to discuss the report again, but knew it was a crucial aspect of their investigation.

So, he compartmentalized. Just like Emily always did. He disassociated his partner with the crime, and suddenly the report was about a women he didn't know.

Because knowing who it was, well, it made it unbearable.

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews! I'd love to hear from you all!**


	4. Chapter 4

Yikes…its been quite a while hasn't it…my bad. The start of the new year has been so so busy for me, it's been crazy guys. I started off with a trip and then went back to school to go through recruitment so I could join greek life. It basically consumed every part of my life. Literally. Anyway, I hope I can return to a semi-normal posting schedule soon!

! - This story will be dark. Very dark. Watch the two movies and you'll see.

Set in late season 5/Early 6

 _Warning: Character Death_

Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

4

"Sir, I have Emily walking into her building, but she never got to her door." Garcia swallowed the lump in her throat, one she knew would bring tears. "It looks like someone got her attention from the garage."

She pointed out the scene, which showed Emily pausing on her way to the elevators and then walking into the garage. Derek swore to himself. If only he'd walked in with her. He'd have to face that decision for the rest of his life.

"Then she walks out of the frame and…" Garcia trailed off.

"So that's where he got her." Derek said. "Someone could've seen something. She's a trained FBI agent, it'd be hard to subdue her."

"Have we got the toxicology report back yet?" Hotch asked, turning towards the blonde.

"Uh, no." She blinked back the tears that formed after watching her friend's final hours. "They haven't processed it yet."

"Tell them to expedite it." Hotch said. "She had no contusions to her head that would subdue her, he must've used chloroform or something similar."

"Where's Reid?" Rossi asked after realized the genius was not in the room.

"He walked off after reading… " Derek looked at his feet in an attempt to compose himself. "after reading the report."

"Where'd he go?" Hotch asked, his eyebrows furrowed in what looked like anger, but the team had come to know as concern.

Derek shrugged. "He probably needed to walk it off. He was pretty upset."

"Understandable." Rossi said, leaning forward against the chair. "So, Prentiss sees something that gets her attention in the garage and the guy grabs her there. Then what?"

"He clearly didn't risk staying in the garage. He must've taken her to a secondary location." Hotch suggested.

"We need to find it." Derek said.

…

The day was long and emotionally draining. It was their first official day working the case and it had been better yet worse than expected. Nobody had a breakdown but working without Emily was harder than anything. None of them ever expected to lose one of their own, especially not _this_ way.

The Sherrif, James Todd, had booked them six rooms in the hotel across the street. To him, he figured they would each want their own room and usually, that was a luxury. But now, Derek realized he would give anything to share a room with _any_ member of the team.

It had turned out that Reid, after fleeing the station, had gone back to the hotel. Rossi had stopped in the younger man's room to check on him, only to find that the kid had read four books in the mere hours he'd been M.I.A.. Rossi shrugged it off, telling himself that it was Spencer's way of coping.

Derek unlocked his dark, empty room and set his go-bag down next to the bed in the center of the room. With a sigh, he sunk down on the end, ruffing up the thin sheets in the process. He closed his eyes, begging his brain to stop creating images to go along with the descriptions in the report.

He was startled by a reserved knock on the door. For a moment he thought he was just hearing things until a much more vehement pounding resonated through the small hotel room. He arose from his seated position and made his way to the front, pausing to look through the tiny hole in the door.

"Reid?" He asked, slightly confused by the young man's appearance. It was after midnight after all.

His voice was trembling. "Can I come in?"

Concerned, Derek stepped to the side. "Yeah… What's the matter, Reid?"

The slender agent quickly made his way inside, pacing in front of the television. "I—I almost did it."

Reid's voice was so fast and shaky Derek almost missed his words. "You almost did what?" He asked and sat down behind Reid's pacing form.

"Dilaudid." Reid said nonchalantly.

Derek's heart dropped and he panicked. "But you didn't?"

As Derek held his breath, Reid violently shook his head. His soft voice continued. "But I want to."

Derek's shoulders dropped, some of the tension releasing at the newfound news. Reid hadn't relapsed. At least not yet.

"Why? You've been sober for years—"

"I can't deal with this, Morgan, I just can't." Reid spewed. "If I take it, I won't have to think, I won't have to feel, I'll just be. It'll be so much easier—"

Derek stood up. "Reid, stop it."

The harshness in the dark agent's voice stopped Reid in his tracks, causing him to look at Morgan. Derek acknowledged the gesture. "I know it's hard. It's hard for all of us, we all miss her." Derek blinked back tears. _We miss her so damn much._ "But Emily wouldn't want this for you. She'd want you to stay strong. To stay sober."

Tears trickled down Reid's cheeks and Derek didn't think he was even aware. "I've never felt anything like this. Not even after my dad left. I—I can't handle this."

"Yes you can, Spencer. We all will get through this, you understand me?"

Derek searched Reid's moist eyes, watching as the slow trickle of tears slowly picked up speed. "Morgan I miss her _so much._ I didn't realize how much she meant to me until _after_ she was gone." He shook his head, a crazed smile ghosting his face. "How shitty is that? Now that she'd gone, I realize how much she means to me."

Derek sighed. He had been lucky enough to come to that realization months ago when they'd started getting closer. There was not much he could say to Reid to comfort him, and it killed him.

"I loved her." He blurted out. When Reid's shocked face met his, he let his own tears fall. "I loved her, man. She was everything."

"You—you were dating?"

Derek nodded, unable to say more without letting his emotions take over.

Reid let out a small sob despite the smile gracing his lips. "That's why she was so happy."

"Happy?" Derek asked.

Reid laughed. "Yeah. The past few months I've noticed she was glowing. She didn't pick her fingernails anymore, either."

Derek laughed at the small memories of Emily. Her nail-biting habit, although she hated it, he couldn't help but to love. It always reminded him that she was human, and not some robot Special Agent.

"I guess she didn't."

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	5. Chapter 5

Oh my gosh guys…I'm so so sorry it's taken me so long to update. My life has taken a crazy turn and I've been unbelievably busy. I won't bore you all with my excuses but please don't be too upset with me! :)

! - This story will be dark. Very dark. Watch the two movies and you'll see.

Set in late season 5/Early 6

 _Warning: Character Death_

Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

5

 _When he looked to his left, his heart dropped and he panicked. Why was this happening? Why here?_

 _A large man, one similar to the build of Hulk, loomed over his unwilling victim. The one person that meant everything to him._

 _"Stop!" He cried as loud as he could because he could not get his damn legs to move._

 _In what felt like slow motion, the burly man paused and looked at him. The pause also meant she turned her head towards him. He saw the glistening tears streaming down her smooth cheeks which were also covered in sweat and salty tears. He listened as a deep, malicious laugh erupted from the monsters chest. He watched as the man returned to his victim, running his hands over her unwitting body all while she squirmed frantically, calling out for him in her panic._

 _"Emily! Please, STOP!" He began to run but watched in horror as the distance did not get smaller and seemed to grow. "No! Stop!"_

 _"Derek…" She whimpered. "Please help. It…it hurts."_

Derek's eyes shot open as he sat up abruptly, panting and trembling all at the same time. His shaky eyes took a look around him as his brain realized it was only a dream. Well, a nightmare really.

He swung his heavy legs over the end of the bed and rested his forehead in his palms. He cursed at the moisture that seemed to be gathering in his eyes and walked quickly to the bathroom. Upon entering the hotel bathroom, he turned the faucet on and turned the knob to cold. Looking at himself in the mirror, he noticed the deep, purple bags underneath his eyes and the hollowness in his eyes.

It'd been two months since he'd made the gruesome discovery. An entire month of living without her and he still heard her cries. She still haunted him every night.

After he splashed some cool water over his face, he decided it was late enough to get ready for work. It was almost five-thirty and he'd made it to work before seven everyday since her murder. He worked until midnight, sometimes later, until Hotch or Rossi forced him out.

As he did every other day, Derek was sitting at his temporary desk at the station at six-thirty. As if on cue, Rossi quietly strolled into the station followed by Hotch, JJ and finally Reid. Morgan had all but moved his life to Harrisonburg - nothing was keeping him in Quantico. Other than the painful fact that Emily was buried there. JJ and Hotch usually went home on weekends and occasionally during the week to see their children, something that Derek sometimes found himself jealous. Jealous that they had kids with partners they loved, or had loved at some point in Hotch's case.

Pushing away his own futile dreams, he focused back to the files in front of him. He'd stared at the same picture of Emily for weeks now, the one that was clipped to the front of her case file.

"Agent Morgan, these were addressed to you." A young uni named Will offered him a small cardboard box. "It was left on the steps."

"Did you see who left it?" Derek asked as he tore open the box.

"I'll pull up security now…" Will said as he quickly began typing on his own computer. "Here he is. Agent Morgan?"

Derek was standing, unmoving, clutching onto the photos that were in the box. Will looked at him confused and called him again with no response. "What is it?"

Will walked over to the dark agent and looked down at the flimsy photographs in the agent's hands. His own stomach flipped at what the images had captured. The latest victim, the agent Emily Prentiss, was the shining star in all the photos.

By now the team had noticed the commotion, or lack there of, near Morgan's desk and had made their way towards him. Hotch reached him first and noticed the cardboard box with Morgan's name scribbled with sharpie and then found the pictures in his hands. It only took him one short glance at them to know what they contained. He slowly looked at his younger agent, noticing the stillness of his body and the tears that rested at the brims of his eyelids.

"Morgan—"

Derek's glazed-over eyes found his superiors and he saw the same pain and sadness in his as his own. Hotch gently took the photos from Derek's hands and handed them to Rossi without letting his focus leave Morgan. He knew his agent had seen every photo that had been in his hands. Hotch had only gotten a short glance and he felt nauseous.

"Let's go outside." Hotch placed his hand on the young man's upper back and gently guided him out of the police doors.

Morgan let Hotch guide him, his feet following absently as his mind went over the photos over and over again. Aaron led them over to a bench in front of the station, away from where the officers were entering for their shifts.

"Derek, I'm sorry you had to see those." Hotch said, wishing he had been the first to see the images rather than Derek. The images still pained him as Emily's friend, but he knew he would have been able to protect Derek from having to see them. Derek never should have had to see his partner like that. "If you want to take a day I understand."

"I can't Hotch, don't you see that?" Derek looked at him with tears on the brink of falling, "I have to push it down, lock it away or whatever."

"Nobody will think less of you for taking some time—"

"God damn it Hotch! I don't need time!" Derek immediately tensed and shot up from the bench. "I need her back!"

A silence instilled between the men, the hustle of a busy Monday in the background served as a soundtrack as if they were actors in a sick thriller. Hotch wanted to let Morgan get his anger out as he knew it had been boiling up for a while now.

As if on cue, Morgan sank back down onto the bench, his head automatically going to his palms. "I'm sorry," he said only minutes later, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Hotch leaned forward on his elbows. "Derek, you lost Emily. We all lost her. It's no surprise that we're all a little 'off'."

Morgan inhaled deeply and wiped at his moist eyes. He was so sick of wiping at his tear-filled eyes. "We still haven't gotten whoever did this, Hotch. He's avoided us for years. What if we never get 'em?"

Hotch patted his shoulder. "We will, Morgan. None of us will stop until we find out who did this."

Derek looked up and found Hotch's dark eyes. He knew that out of everyone on the team, Hotch understood the most. It had only been months since Haley died and yet the unit chief was still here, now even after losing his agent. Derek knew that if Hotch could keep fighting, so would he.

He had to keep going or the waves of pain he felt would drown him.

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